Machine for cleaning corrugated plates or molds



Nov. 14, 1939. c. c. SPADONE 9.96

MACHINE FOR CLEANING CORRUGATED PLATES 0R MOLDS Filed July 21, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 12 35 C/AQBLE8 (TSP/moms ATTORNEY.

Nov. 14, 1939. c, c, SPADONE 2.179.963

MACHINE FOR CLEANING CORRUGATED PLATES 0R MOLDS Filed July 21, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR Cf/QELES C. SP/QDONE Patented Nov. 14, 1939 PATENT OFFICE MACHINE. FOR CLEANING CORRUGATED PLATES OR MOLDS Charles C. Spadone, Rockville Centre, N. Y.

Application July 21, 1938, Serial No. 220,440

The invention relates to the cleaning of'corrugated plates or molds as exemplified by the corrugated plates used in presses for making corrugated rubber mats and matting. After a period of use, such'plates become fouled and clogged and require cleaning in order torenew their efficiency for their intended purposes. In practice,-these plates, because of their location inthe presses and because of dimensions; are difficult to clean, so that under existing conditions, the cleaning operation is not only time consuming but in many instances requires the plates to be removed from the press, and the services of specially skilled operators in the performance of said cleaning operation in order to avoid injury to the plates under discussion.

The invention has for its object to provide a novel cleaning machine requiring no particular skill in its operation and use and whereby cor- 20 rugated plates or molds of the indicated type may be efiiciently cleaned while remaining undisturbed in the press, and in a'minimum of time with little manual effort and without danger of injury to said plates or molds.

25 Other more specificobjects will appear from the description hereinafter, and the features of novelty will be pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate an example of the invention without defining its limits, Fig. 1 is a plan view of the novel cleaning machine; Fig. 2 is a side. elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is a similar view looking in the opposite direction; Fig. 4 is an elevation looking in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1 showing diagram- 35 matically a conventional press opening with the machine in operative position on the corrugated plate forming part of the press, and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail section of the mounting for the cleaning element.

In its illustrated form, the machine comprises a supporting plate in mounted upon wheels H to constitute a travelling carriage, said wheels ll being suitably journalled on the plate In and being provided with peripheral flanges l2 preferably dimensioned and shaped to fit the corrugations of the corrugated plates or molds for which the machine is designed.

An electric motor l3 of suitable type and horsepower is supported upon the plate HI and in fas- 50? tened in place thereon in any convenient manner, said motor I3 exemplifying the-source of power from which the cleaning means or element is operated as will appear more fully hereinafter. The plate II] also carries an upright standard I4 including a bearing. head as its 1 Claim. (CI. 15-77) upper end, and fixed in place on said plate I0 in any conventional way as by screws 16; the standard I4 preferably is dimensioned and located on the plate [0 so as to position the axial centre of the bearing head l5 in axial registry with the driving shaft ll of the motor [3, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4.

An arm I8 is provided at one end with a bearing head I9 for' the accommodation of a pivot pin whereby said one end of said arm 18 is pivotally connected with the bearing head I5 of the standard 14; the pivot pin 20 may be fixed in place in any suitable manner as by means of a conventional cap screw 2| threaded into the head l5 and clamping the pin 20'therein.' As shown in Fig. 1, the arm 18 at its pivoted end preferably is of curved form and includes a continuing straight section 22 provided with an internal bore 23 for the accommodation of a member 24 whereby a bearing housing 25 is movably mounted on the arm [8 preferably so as to: be adjustable in the direction of the length thereof; any suitable means may be provided as for instance a set screw 26 for fixing the member 24 against movement in the bore 23 to thereby secure the housing 25 in an adjusted position. As shown in Figs. 1 and 5, the arm 18 may be formed with a shoulder 21 and is tapped thereat for the reception of a cap screw '28 which at its inner end bears against the inner end of the member 24 in the bore 23 for the purpose to be more fully set forth hereinafter.

The housing 25 is interiorly provided with ball bearings 29 or the like suitably mounted in place in axial alignment with each other to rotatably support a shaft 30 which projects outwardly beyond the housing 25 in opposite directions. The ball bearings 29 are maintained in the housing 25 in any convenientmanner as by means of washers 3| and 32 respectively, the washer 32 including a peripheral flange 33 and being fastened to the housing 25 by screws 34. The shaft 30 is formed with an intermediate portion 30 of relatively larger diameter located between the ball bearings 29 and co-operating therewith to maintain the shaft 30 against material movement in axial directions.v The shaft 30 carries a cleaning element or buffing wheel which is illustrated in the form of a wire brush 35 fastened upon the one projecting portion of said shaft 30 by means of bevelled Washers 36 and a lock nut-31 screwed on the one end of said shaft 30 which is threaded for this purpose. A pulley 38 or its equivalent is mounted upon the oppositely projecting portion of the-shaft 30 to rotate therewith and is connected, by means of a belt 39 or the like with a co-operating pulley 40 fastened on the driving shaft 17 of the motor IS. The tension of the belt 39 may be adjusted by means of the cap screw 28 acting on the end of the member 24, after the set screw 25 has first been loosened. In the preferred arrangement, a protecting guard 4! extends over the brush 35 and encloses the same in such a manner as not to interfere with the operative functions of said brush 35; the guard il is supported in position in any convenient way, and in the illustrated example is mounted on the washer 32 and between the flange 33 thereof and the bearing housing 25. To provide for easy access to the brush 35, the guard 4| may be made in two sections detachably connected with each other by means of screws 42; with this arrangement the one section of said guard 4| may be easily removed at will to expose the brush 35 and to make the same easily accessible when necessary.

For the purpose of maintaining the cleaning element or buffing wheel exemplified by the brush 35 in the most efiicient contact with the plate being cleaned, said brush 35 is preferably controlled by a spring which itself is adjustable as to tension in order to provide the desired results. The illustrated example accordingly includes a flat or leaf spring 33 one end of which is rigidly secured to the bearing head i of the upright standard Hi, for instance, by means of the previously mentioned cap screw 2i; to hold the spring &3 against pivotal movement on the screw 2|, the bearing head !5, which is flat at the top, may be provided with upright pins 43 adapted to extend into co-operating apertures formed in said spring 43. The free end of the spring 43 projects over the bearing housing 25 and preferably carries a screw G5 which engages said housing 25 and thereby transmits the tension of said spring 43 thereto and to the brush 35 as will be obvious; a lock nut 48 is carried by the screw 45 and serves to prevent unintentional movement thereof relatively to said spring 43.

The cleaning machine shown in the drawing is manually controlled for instance by means of a suitable rod or handle 4"! which may be made of metallic tubing or the like, and is detachably connected with the supporting plate 20 in any convenient manner. In the illustrated example, the supporting plate H3 is provided upon opposite sides of the motor i3 with brackets LB-suitably fastened in place and each carrying a lug 49 dimensioned to fit into an end of the rod or handle ll and having an annular shoulder 58 against which said rod or handle end abuts; the handle 6'! and each lug 39 are provided with apertures adapted to register with each other for the accommodation of a pin 5i whereby a given rod or handle il may be selectively attached to either of the lugs 59 in dependence upon the direction of operation of the machine. It will be understood that a separate rod or handle 4'! may be simultaneously connected with each bracket 38 to enable the machine to be drawn back and forth in the performance of its functions, by two operators. lhe machine further includes a suitable switch 52 for starting and stopping the motor it at will.

In the operation of the machine, the arm i8 and its associated elements is reversible on its pivot '25 to shift the brush 35 or its equivalent at will to two different positions relatively to the carriage l8, for the purpose to be more clearly set forth hereinafter. In the preferred arrangement provision is made to support the arm 18 and brush 35 in either of the operative positions when the brush 35 is not resting upon a corrugated plate or mold A. The illustrated example accordingly includes upright stop screws 53 carried by lugs 54 projecting in opposite directions from the standard l4, said screws 53 being located in the circular path of the arm 48 and being .fixed in adjusted positions by lock nuts 55 as shown in Fig. 2. It will be understood that the adjustment of the screws 53 is always such as not to interfere with the cleaning action of the brush 35 on the plate or mold A.

As the position of the arm 18 is reversed on its pivot 25 to set the brush 25 relatively to the carriage it], it is necessary to also adjust the protecting guard ii so that its opening will face downwardly. to enable the brush 35 to engage the corrugated plate or mold A; it will be understood that the guard 4! is rotatably mounted on the washer 32 to enable this adjustment to be made. For the purpose of maintaining the guard ll in an adjusted position and in proper relation to the arm i8 the machine may include locking means illustrated in the form of a spring controlled detent 55 carried by the arm l8 and arranged to snap into apertures 51 provided at the proper points on the guard 4|.

The novel cleaning machine, as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 4, is designed to operate within the press opening of the conventional press whereby corrugated mats and matting are produced, and thereby enables the conventional corrugated plates and molds embodied in the press to be periodically cleaned without requiring said plates or molds to be first removed from the press as is now the practice.

In practice, the wheels I! rest upon the corrugated plate A with the flanges 2 thereof each located in a corrugation a thereof so as to track therein with the result that the machine as it is manipulated, automatically travels in straight lines over the corrugated surface of said plate A. In the operative position of the machine, the cleaning element or bufling wheel exemplified by the wire brush 35 rests upon said corrugated surface a of the plate A under the resilient pressure of the spring 43; the tension of the latter may be selectively adjusted by the screw 65 to cause the brush 35 to engage the corrugated surface of said plate A with a pressure most efficient and suitable to the existing conditions.

After the switch 52 has been closed to start the motor E3 in operation to thereby rotate the brush 35, the machine is drawn back and forth in the press opening by means of the rods or handles 41 or equivalent means, to thereby sub ject the corrugated surface a of the plate A to the cleaning action of the rotating brush 35 or its equivalent. At appropriate intervals, the flanges I2 of the wheels ii are shifted to adjacent corrugations a of the plate A and the manual reciprocation of the machine in the press opening is repeated, these operations being continued until the entire corrugated surface of the plate A capable of being reached by the brush 35 or equivalent cleaning element during this operative stage of the machine has been acted on by said brush 35 or its equivalent. It will be noted that certain parts of the plate A are not acted on by the brush 35 in the position occupied thereby during the aforesaid operations. It accordingly becomes necessary to reverse the position of the arm l8 and its associated elements at an appropriate stage and to continue the aforesaid operations in order to enable the brush 35 to reach those parts of the corrugated surface of the plate A not previously acted on and clean the same.

The machine will thoroughly clean the corrugated plates in a minimum of time without danger of scratching, marring or otherwise injuring the plates, and requires no particular skill in its operation. In actual practice two operators by manipulating the machine as described can thoroughly clean a corrugated plate A approximately twenty-five feet long and forty-two inches wide, well within a three hour period, Without requiring the plate A to be removed from its operative position in the press.

The machine is simple in construction, is sturdily built and entirely self-contained, and provides a cleaning device which will give maximum service over long periods at practically no maintenance costs. The machine may be constructed in dimensions to meet all conditions and in any case may be operatively manipulated without material physical exertion on the part of the operators.

Various changes in the specific forms shown and described may be made within the scope of the claim without departing from the spirit of g the invention.

I claim: A machine for cleaning corrugated plates and molds, comprising a supporting plate, wheels carfixed on, said supporting plate, an arm having its one end pivotally connected with the upper end of said standard, a bearing housing adjustably secured to the other end of said arm, a shaft journalled in said housing and projecting beyond the same in opposite directions, a buffing wheel mounted on said shaft exteriorly of said housing at one side thereof and arranged to engage the corrugated plates and molds, a pulley fixed upon said shaft exteriorly of said housing at the opposite, side thereof, a co -operating pulley on the riving shaft of said motor, a spring having one end fastened to said standard and its free end projecting over said housing, an adjusting screw carried by said spring at its free end in engagement with said housing for selectively adjusting the tension of said spring and transmitting said tension to said housing whereby the pressure of said bufiing wheel on said plates and molds is selectively controlled, and means for moving said machine along the corrugations or said plates and molds while said bufiing wheel is rotatively actuated by said motor.

CHAS. C. SPADONE. 

